Perhaps you know why I have come from Vrndavana, a place very far
away from this country of Russia. When I reached the airport in Moscow,
the custom officials dealt very badly with us. At that time, I promised
I would never again come to Russia. But now I am seeing more than
six-hundred devotees here, receiving and welcoming me; so I have forgotten
what happened in the airport.

[When will Sri Rupa Gosvami give me the shelter of his lotus
feet? Because he understood the innermost desire of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu,
he was able to establish His mission in this world and is very dear
to the Lord. (Sri Prema-bhakti-candrika, Narottama dasa Thakura)

Srila Rupa Gosvami knew the mood of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Mahaprabhu
inspired in his heart what He wanted to taste and give  why
He descended from Goloka-Vrndavana to this world. It was in Prayaga
that Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu inspired His aim and object in the heart
of Srila Rupa Gosvami. Then in Puri, He requested Sri Nityananda Prabhu,
Sri Svarupa Damodara, Sri Raya Ramananda and all His personal associates
to bestow their mercy upon Srila Rupa Gosvami, so that he could establish
in this world the Lords inner-most desire. By Caitanya Mahaprabhus
inspiration and by His mercy, Srila Rupa Gosvami wrote Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu,
Ujjvala-nilamani, Lalita-Madhava, Vidagdha-Madhava and so many other
books.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is not only Caitanya Mahaprabhu, but Sri Krsna
Himself  having taken the beauty and internal moods of Srimati
Radhika. Whatever He could not give in Krsnas pastimes, He gave
as Sacinandana Gaurahari.

Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu descended to this world from Goloka-Vrndavana,
Goloka-Svetadvipa. His motive was to give krsna-prema.

[May the Supreme Lord who is known as the son of Srimati Saci-devi
be transcendentally situated in the innermost chambers of your heart.
Resplendent with the radiance of molten gold, He has appeared in the
Age of Kali by His causeless mercy to bestow what no incarnation has
ever offered before: the most sublime and radiant mellow of devotional
service, the mellow of conjugal love. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
Adi-lila 1.4)]

Lord Krsna had three internal reasons for descending. He wanted to
understand and relish the love of Srimati Radhika. Also, although
He is so beautiful and sweet, He could not relish Himself to the extent
She could:

[Desiring to understand the glory of Radharanis love,
the wonderful qualities in Him that She alone relishes through Her
love, and the happiness She feels when She realizes the sweetness
of His love, the Supreme Lord Hari, richly endowed with Her emotions,
appeared from the womb of Srimati Saci-devi, as the moon appeared
from the ocean. (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Adi-lila 1.6)]

He wanted to know and to relish all the moods of Srimati Radhika.
Sri radhaya pranaya-mahima... He wanted to know the glory
of Her love, what it is in Him that makes Her maddened, and the nature
of the pleasure She experiences by remembering Him. The mood He thus
relished is called unnatojjvala-parakiya-bhava.

He wanted to give His mercy: karunayavatirnah kalau samarpayitum
unnatojjvala-rasam sva-bhakti-sriyam. Sva-bhakti-sriyam means
manjari-bhava. He did so, but since He wanted to give this one gift,
why did Srila Rupa Gosvami write so many books, like Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu
and Upadesamrta? Why did he not write only about the topics of manjari-bhava
 for the entire world and all devotees? This is the question.

There is a second question as well: why could Srila Rupa Gosvami not
have written only one book, saying, You are all manjaris.?
Are all in one stage of bhakti, or in different stages? There are
millions of stages of devotees, and one manjari-bhava. This manjari-bhava
is certainly our highest aim and object, but Srila Rupa Gosvami has
written in his Bhakti-rasamrta sindhu:

[The angas of bhakti such as sravana, kirtana, sri guru-padasraya,
and others, which have already been described in regard to vaidhi-bhakti,
are also useful and necessary in raganuga-bhakti. But judicious sadhakas
will adopt only those angas which nourish their specific bhava, avoiding
those which hamper it.]

[Sripad Aranya Maharaja:] Those persons who have realization of Sri
Krsna are very thoughtful and philosophical. They have concluded that
for those persons who desire to follow raganuga-bhakti or the path
of spontaneous devotion, it is appropriate to follow all the angas
of vaidhi-bhakti beginning with hearing, chanting and remembering.
All the practitioners of raganuga-bhakti are bound to follow the regulations
and limbs of bhakti that are included in vaidhi-bhakti, with the exception
of a few items. They will not practice mudras, they will not do pranayama,
and they will not meditate on the pastimes of Rukmini and Satyabhama
with Krsna in Dvaraka; because these are contrary to the development
of their internal mood.

[The advanced devotee, who is inclined to spontaneous loving
service, should follow the activities of a particular associate of
Krsna in Vrndavana. He should execute service externally as a regulative
devotee as well as internally from his self-realized position. Thus
he should perform devotional service both externally and internally.]

He will have to follow the rupanuga Vaisnavas, in their sadhaka-rupena
forms as devotional practitioners and in their siddha-rupena, fully
perfect forms as associates of Sri Sri Radha and Krsna. We should
follow the teachings of Srila Rupa Gosvami regarding the limbs of
bhakti  the rules and regulations. On one hand rupanuga-bhakti
doesnt manifest from reading sastra or by following rules and
regulations; but you must know that in order to have a greed for rupanuga-bhakti, it
is necessary to follow and observe the injunctions of sastra.
You will have to obey sastra, otherwise you will simply create disturbance.

"Devotional service of the Lord that ignores the authorized Vedic
literatures like the Upanisads, Puranas and Narada-pancaratra is simply
an unnecessary disturbance in society."

You should know the meaning of seva sadhaka-rupena siddha-rupena
catra hi. The raganuga or rupanuga bhakta will follow the rules
and regulations of bhakti as Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami did externally,
and internally he will follow the mood of Rati Manjari (Srila Raghunatha
dasa Gosvami's form in Radha-Krsna-lila, as a maidservant of Srimati
Radhika.) Those who have no greed, that is, who are not at the stage
of bhava-bhakti, will not be able to follow him.

Follow all the instructions written in Upadesamrta. If you boycott
Upadesamrta, your bhakti will be only illusory, and it will cheat
you. Try to follow Srila Rupa Gosvami, who is akanda-guru-tattva,
the complete undivided principle of guru.

We must know that not everyone is in the same stage of bhakti. Everyone
is in different stages. If one is neophyte and does not have sraddha,
can you tell him, You are a manjari and you should book your
ticket for only manjari mood.? I want to tell you all that this
is a wrong idea. We should try to actually understand, and then follow,
the real meaning of rupanuga. There are some symptoms of one who has
greed for this:

[When the seed of ecstatic emotion for Krsna fructifies, the
following nine symptoms manifest in ones behavior: forgiveness,
concern that time should not be wasted, detachment, absence of false
prestige, hope, eagerness, a taste for chanting the holy name of the
Lord, attachment to hear the descriptions of the transcendental qualities
of the Lord, and affection for those places where the Lord residesthat
is, a temple or a holy place like Vrndavana. These are all called
anubhava, subordinate signs of ecstatic emotion. They are visible
in a person in whose heart the seed of love of God has begun to fructify.
(Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.3.2526)]

Nityananda prabhu used to preach everywhere. When he preached in the
assembly of Jagai and Madai, they beat him and blood flowed from his
head; but still he gave them krsna-prema. He preached throughout Bengal.
What was he preaching? Did he preach, Oh, you are a manjari?
No, he never did so.

Nityananda Prabhu is akanda-guru-tattva. Does he have the mood of
a manjari or not? Yes, he is Ananga Manjari. One may think, He
does not have a manjari mood and he did not preach it 
so he is not guru. I will not obey him. I will only obey Srila Rupa
Gosvami. A person who thinks in this way is a bogus person,
an offender in the lotus feet of the entire guru-parampara. We must
obey the guru-parampara. Those who are pure preachers of Krsnas
holy name know the mood of the manjaris, but not all are qualified
to hear about it from them.

Be very careful about this. Do not commit offenses at the lotus feet
of Vaisnavas. If anyone says, There is a difference of opinion
between Srila Gurudeva and Aranya Maharaja (or any other disciple),
so I will follow Aranya Maharaja and not Gurudeva, what is this?
This is called guru-avajna (defying the authority of guru, considering
the spiritual master to be material and therefore envying his exalted
position). It is only because of Gurudeva that any Maharaja knows
who Srila Rupa Gosvami is and what is the mood of a manjari. If you
have this bogus idea, you should correct your feelings  otherwise
all your "moods" will vanish.

We should all be careful. I have told this to all of you, because
nowadays a wind is blowing in this direction: We will follow
manjari mood only; nothing else. Dont think like that.
If a real transcendental greed enters your heart to serve Sri Radha
and Krsna Conjugal, all the following symptoms will manifest:

[When the seed of ecstatic emotion for Krsna fructifies, the
following nine symptoms manifest in ones behavior: forgiveness,
concern that time should not be wasted, detachment, absence of false
prestige, hope, eagerness, a taste for chanting the holy name of the
Lord, attachment to (HEAR THE) descriptions of the transcendental
qualities of the Lord, and affection for those places where the Lord
residesthat is, a temple or a holy place like Vrndavana. These
are all called anubhava, subordinate signs of ecstatic emotion. They
are visible in a person in whose heart the seed of love of God has
begun to fructify. (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.3.2526)]

["The Supreme Lord Vrajendra-nandana Sri Krsna is my worshipable
Deity, and His transcendental abode, Sri Vrndavana-dhama, is equally
worshipable. The most excellent method of worshipping Krsna is that
adopted by the gopa-ramanis, the young wives of Vraja. Srimad-bhagavatam
is the flawless and most authoritative evidence of this. This krsna-prema
is the fifth and highest achievement of human life  beyond dharma,
artha, kama, and moksa. This is the opinion of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
We have supreme regard for His conclusion, and we have no inclination
or respect for any other, cheating opinions."]

Srimad-bhagavatam is the spotless evidence regarding Lord Krsnas
transcendental pastimes. But in Srimad-bhagavatam, is the manjari
mood directly written about anywhere? It is not, although it is indirectly
indicated in so many places. There is even no direct mention of the
name Srimati Radhika, Lalita or Visakha.
Why is this so? Did Srila Vyasadeva or Srila Sukadeva Gosvami not
know their names? On the contrary, Srila Sukadeva Gosvami would become
faint when uttering Radhas name.

Since Srimad-bhagavatam has not openly declared manjari-mood, we also
should not. We are not greater than Sri Vyasadeva, Srila Sukadeva
Gosvami, Srila Rupa Gosvami or Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We should
keep that mood in our heart, as a wife who has a paramour does not
give her husband any such indication. In India it is done like this,
but not in the West. Westerners can have more than one husband
at a time  no harm  but in India, to declare another beloved
would create a very big problem.

I request that if you feel you have greed for the mood of a manjari,
keep it in your heart so that nobody can have any scent of it. Otherwise,
in a day or two, offenses will come. Keep it inside, like camphor.
If camphor burns at an open doorway it evaporates, whereas if it is
kept hidden behind closed doors, it will increase in fragrance. It
is very good if one has actual greed. I appreciate this, and my heartfelt
blessings to you if you have this. But if you consider that you have
it, keep it in your heart and dont disturb others, otherwise
they will collect so many lady friends and engage in so-called parakiya
mood (illicit and immoral connection with the opposite sex).

My request is: do not be mad to be a manjari. Try to follow Sri Upadesamrta
first, and then the other writings of Srila Rupa Gosvami. You can
then gradually go to the top of the bhakti tree. Dont try to
jump at once to the top of the tree. Otherwise, you may fall down,
break your arms and legs, and crack your head. Be careful.

In the evening classes, we will begin our discussion from anyabilasita
sunyam (the verse explaining the definition of pure bhakti), Srimad-bhagavatam,
and then we will come to the sweet pastimes of Krsna.

About Purebhakti

We publish in written and audio form the transcendental sound vibrations that have eminated from self realized Spiritual Masters in the line of Sri Krsna and in recent times, His manifestation as Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu (1482 AD).